News

No unionism at the school gates, please

CAMPAIGNERS against Scottish independence have been warned by the UK’s biggest
social network for parents that plans to lobby mothers on the school run
could backfire.

The Yes and No camp intend to target women after polling showed that they were
far less supportive of independence than men, but the tactics to be used by
Better Together are attracting some concern.

“Women are overwhelmingly against independence, or undecided, and the social
networks that women build locally tend to be larger and stronger than men,”
said Blair McDougall, who is coordinating the Better Together campaign.

“We’ll look to exploit that school-gate network of women talking to women.
There will be no hard-sell from us. It will just be encouraging women to
have the conversation. We’ll be speaking to them about their lives and what
the experts are saying about the things they are interested in.”